Blunt words from Belgium

A quick posting today, as I have to watch Kofi Annan and the EU foreign ministers announce their contributions to the UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon.

Who will be in the driving seat?

There's a lot going on, and I have to file before too long to the print edition. I will perhaps be accused, once again, of "light reporting". I plead guilty but not guilty.

I do write these fast, and go out on a limb much more than I do with polished articles. Sometimes you get first hand reporting. When it is quiet in Brussels, I try to find things that may not be available elsewhere in the Anglo-Saxon MSM.

To me, that's because this is a blog, intended – by me at least – to spark discussion, and offer you thoughts and bits of information that do not easily fit into a news story, but which might be of interest. If that means this blog seems tangential, then I can only urge you to read the newspaper, too. I have always seen this blog as a complement to the Telegraph's news coverage, not a replacement for it.

With that in mind I will offer you the words of Belgium's foreign minister, Karel De Gucht, a man notorious for his frankness. He sent a note to cabinet colleagues today, explaining why Belgium should contribute troops.

He seems to have offered two reasons: one, the Americans cannot do it, as they're not trusted in the Arab world. Two, we have our own Muslim populations, so Middle Eastern peace is in our self-interest too.

As often with De Gucht, I think he is not necessarily wrong in his analysis – he certainly reflects the thinking of many European politicians, and voters. If you were his boss, you might ask why the undiplomatic private arguments of the Belgian foreign minister seem to be publicly available to the media, within hours.

Anyway, here is what he apparently wrote to the cabinet: "The United States is not able to openly play an active role in controlling and solving the conflict because it has no credibility whatsoever for Arab and Muslim nations as a negotiator or as a provider of neutral peacekeeping troops. In comparison, the countries of the European Union are acceptable to all parties involved."

According to the news agencies, this is what he had to say about self-interest.

"The Mideast is very close and many EU nations have large immigrant communities of Arab origin or Muslim beliefs. The Middle East is also a major catalyst for international terrorism, which also targets Europe."